In 1964 John started working at Nottingham City Council where he spent his entire 39 year career, moving his way through the ranks from trainee accountant right up to the Director of Finance post in which he retired.

One work story John liked to tell his kids Chris and Sue was about how he started out collecting pennies from public toilets, to impress upon them how far they could progress in their careers with hard work and determination.  Sue also remembers him telling her he never got a job he applied for independently, which shows he must've done very well out of promotions! By the time he retired in 2003 John oversaw a department of over 200 people and was the first and only Director of Finance, the job being re-titled from City Treasurer.  Among the major projects John was involved in during this career are the NET Phase One tram network, the opening of the Motorpoint Ice Arena and loan agreements for both Nottingham Forest and Notts County Football Clubs.

John also tutored on finance at Clarendon college in the evenings from the late '70s until the ‘80s, where he helped many of his younger colleagues through their Association of Accounting Technician qualifications.

There was a huge turnout for John's retirement do at work (which was because people genuinely liked and respected him and not because there was free food, drink and a bit of time to bunk off work!) with a wonderful speech given by Dilip Desai.  Following John's death many former colleagues, some of whom have not seen John for perhaps 20 years or more, got in touch with John's family and the messages had a common theme - John was someone who always supported people in their fledgling careers and beyond.  He was a rare breed of manager, and later director, whom people both respected and liked.